How Can I Find Someone's Screen Name?

When you create a new screen name for chatting with friends and family on AOL Instant Messenger or Yahoo! Messenger, you are given an opportunity to create a more detailed profile of yourself and include other personal data, like your real name, location and interests. Then on the AOL and Yahoo! websites, you can perform searches through this data to find other people's screen names.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

AIM Screen Names

1. Go to the AIM search page (see Resources below).

2. Type general search terms in the main text box at the top of the page. You can choose to search for only a certain gender or for people within a certain age range. Click on the search button once you have added all your search parameters. A list of your search results will appear on the next page.

3. Click on any of the search results to view the extended details about the person. The individual's screen name will appear at the top of the window, and you can then add this screen name to your Buddy List in the AIM program.

Yahoo! Screen Names

4. Go to the Yahoo! 360 Search page (see Resources below).

5. Type in a name or general search term into the text box at the top of the window and then click "Search."

6. Use the age, gender and location options on the left side of the screen to adjust your initial search results.

7. Click on the picture of the Yahoo! user you want the screen name of, and you will be directed to that person's profile page, which will also list their messaging screen name.

Resources

• AIM Search Page
• Yahoo! 360 Search Page